65-407-314 Me. Code R. § 4

Current through 2024-25, June 19, 2024

Section 407-314-4 - REQUIRED DESIGN FEATURES OF A LIAP

Each LIAP shall have the following design features:

A.Eligible Customers

Each transmission and distribution utility's LIAP shall be available to its customers who are taking residential electric service on a continuing year-round basis who meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. The customer or a member of the customer's household is eligible for LIHEAP administered by MSHA or any means-tested program administered by DHHS and the customer's household income is found to be at or below 75% of the federal poverty guidelines.

2. The customer is not receiving a housing subsidy that limits the household's total housing cost, including utilities, to a fixed percentage of the household's income, with the exception of customers who qualify for participation in the oxygen pump or ventilator program pursuant to section 4(L)(3). These customers are eligible to participate in both the LIAP, as well as the oxygen pump and ventilator programs; and

3. The customer qualifies for the transmission and distribution utility's LIAP.

B.LIAP Administration

Collectively, the LIAPs will be administered by the transmission and distribution utilities, the MSHA and other entities that may contract with the MSHA. This includes eligibility certification, benefit determination, and any other administrative duty necessary to carry out the intent of this Chapter.

C.Native American Participation in LIAPs

Each transmission and distribution utility will enroll in its LIAP any customer that is certified to be eligible for LIHEAP by a tribal organization that is approved by the Federal Government to administer LIHEAP in the State of Maine.

D.Transfer of Certification Information

Certification and enrollment information should be transferred in the most efficient, cost effective way possible between the utility and the agency responsible for certification and calculation of the benefit.

E.Benefit Levels

Each LIAP shall vary benefits paid to ensure that participants more in need receive higher benefits than participants less in need, as measured by income level and expressed as a percentage of the federal poverty guidelines. For example, participants between 0% and 75% of the federal poverty guidelines shall receive a higher benefit than those between 76% and 100%. Similarly, participants between 101% and 125% of federal poverty guidelines shall receive a higher benefit than those over 125%. Each transmission and distribution utility's LIAP shall have a minimum of four separate categories of benefits based on federal poverty guidelines, with the exception of percentage of income programs, which by design complies with the intent of this section.

F.Lump Sum Benefit Program

1.Default Lump Sum Benefit allocation method. Transmission and distribution utilities utilizing a Lump Sum Benefit Program shall establish the annual benefit amount for each benefit level as described in subsection E above using a default allocation model provided annually by the Commission.

2.Minimum benefit amount. Transmission and distribution utilities shall establish an annual "minimum benefit amount" that eligible participants will receive. This will ensure that all customers who are eligible for the LIAP receive a benefit. Transmission and distribution utilities shall file a tariff to be reviewed and approved by the Commission to establish the minimum benefit amount.

3.Alternative Lump Sum Benefit allocation method. Upon application by a transmission and distribution utility made pursuant to section 3(B) above, the Director of CASD may approve an alternative Lump Sum Benefit allocation methodology that is consistent with the requirements of subsection E above.

G.Enrollment

For LIAPs that provide a monthly benefit, the enrollment process shall be designed so that the participant receives a benefit on the next bill after the transmission and distribution utility's receipt of the participant's certification. If the bill will be issued within five business days after receipt of the certification, enrollment shall be completed before the following bill is issued. If enrollment is delayed, enrollment shall be retroactive to the first bill issued after certification. For LIAPs that provide benefits collectively on an annual basis, the benefit shall be credited to the participant's bill no later than June of the applicable program year. Nothing in this section limits benefit disbursements to a monthly or an annual basis.

H.Statewide Low-Income Assistance Plan Funding

The Statewide Low-Income Assistance Plan will be funded by an assessment on each transmission and distribution utility as described in Section 5 of this Chapter.

I.Relationship to Energy Management Services

As a condition of enrollment, a LIAP participant shall agree to accept energy management measures and programs offered at no cost by the participant's transmission and distribution utility, the Efficiency Maine Trust, the MSHA, or other federally or state-funded programs, for the participant's dwelling or rental unit, unless the participant is a renter and the landlord withholds the required consent.

J.Impact on Means-Tested Assistance Programs

The intent of this Chapter is that benefits provided will not be counted as income or as a resource in other means-tested assistance programs for low-income households. Each LIAP shall therefore be administered in a way that ensures that benefits will not result in the loss of other federal assistance dollars.

K.Continuing Applicability of Chapter 815

Except as specifically varied by this Chapter or by terms and conditions approved by the Commission, the provisions of Chapter 815 shall continue to apply.

L.Benefits Provided to Customers Using Oxygen Pumps or Ventilators

1.Purpose of Oxygen Pump and Ventilator Benefits

The Oxygen Pump and Ventilator Benefits provide financial assistance to low- income customers who, for health-related reasons, must use an oxygen pump or ventilator at least 8 hours each day. The benefit is intended to cover the full cost of operating an oxygen pump or ventilator, and must not reduce benefits provided under existing LIAPs required by this Chapter.

2.Certification of Need

a. Each transmission and distribution utility shall provide customers who use an oxygen pump or ventilator with a form approved by the Commission that documents the information listed below. The completed form must be signed and dated by the customer's physician (or the patient's physician, if the patient is not the customer), or the physician's agent or designee. The form must, at a minimum, include the following information:

i. The name of the patient using an oxygen pump or ventilator;

ii. The number of hours each day the patient must use an oxygen pump or ventilator;

iii. The period of time in days or months that it is anticipated the patient will need an oxygen pump or ventilator;

iv. The physical address (service location) at which the patient using an oxygen pump or ventilator resides; and

v. Whether the customer is receiving a housing subsidy that limits the household's total housing costs, including utilities, to a fixed percentage of the household's income; and

vi. The name and utility account number of the eligible customer.

b. Use of a form provided by the Commission will be considered in compliance with the information requirements of Section 4(L)(2)(a)(i) -(v).

c. Each time a transmission and distribution utility provides a customer with a form pursuant to this section, the transmission and distribution utility must also provide notice that the form must be completed on an annual basis. The notice can either be part of the form or can be included as an attachment to the form.

3.Eligibility

a. Transmission and distribution utilities shall provide a credit to each participant who annually qualifies to participate in the utility's LIAP pursuant to section 4(A) and who submits certification as specified in Section 4(L)(2) that a member of the household must use an oxygen pump or ventilator at least 8 hours each day.

b. Certification to receive the Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit must be renewed for each LIAP program year. The certification form may be submitted prior to October 1 but no earlier than September 1 each year.

c. The Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit shall be applied to only one account per customer.

d. In the event a customer receiving the Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit moves to a new location either within or outside the same transmission and distribution utility's service territory, the customer's eligibility to receive the Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit shall transfer to the new account. In these situations, the benefit at the second or subsequent location must reflect the remaining amount of time in that program year at the first or previous location, the customer is not eligible to receive an additional benefit at a subsequent location. In the event that a customer moves to a new transmission and distribution territory and requests eligibility for the Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit, the transmission and distribution utility must ask the customer if they have received a benefit from their previous transmission and distribution utility.

4.Effect on Other LIAP Benefits

a. The benefit for use of an oxygen pump or ventilator shall not reduce benefits provided, nor increase co-payments, under any other section of this Chapter.

b. The following requirements apply to transmission and distribution utilities operating a percentage of income program (PIP):

i. An eligible customer's benefit will be recalculated in accordance with Section 4(L)(5) to consider the increased usage associated with the operation of the oxygen pump or ventilator beginning on the date the transmission and distribution utility receives the appropriately completed form specified in Section 4(L)(2);

ii. An eligible customer's co-payment cannot increase due to the usage associated with an oxygen pump or ventilator, and the overall benefit provided to eligible customers must reflect the usage associated with the oxygen pump or ventilator, even if that usage causes the total benefit amount to exceed a pre-established ceiling for a total benefit amount; and

iii. If the PIP bases the benefit amount on a customer's electric usage for the previous 12 months and there is less than 12 months of oxygen pump or ventilator usage reflected in the historic consumption, an estimate of usage will be used until 12 months oxygen pump or ventilator usage is accumulated.

5.Amount of Credit

a. The Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit should be equivalent to the total cost of electricity to run the oxygen pump or ventilator, including both the supply cost and the delivery cost, for the number of hours and the duration indicated by the physician. The amount of the credit must not exceed the total household usage. The cost of electricity for operating an oxygen pump or ventilator will be calculated by multiplying the applicable monthly kWh in Table 1 or Table 2 by the appropriate price per kWh. For customers who enroll in the oxygen pump or ventilator assistance programs or terminate use of an oxygen pump or ventilator part way through a billing cycle, the daily kWh in Table 1 or Table 2 will be used to calculate the benefit for the partial month.

b. Customers who submit the certification form specified in Section 4(L)(2) at the time they are enrolled in a transmission and distribution utility's LIAP will receive a full year of the Oxygen Pump Benefit or the entire period of time specified by the patient's physician, whichever time period is less.

c. The benefit for customers who submit the certification form specified in Section 4(L)(2) during a LIAP program year will be calculated from the date the transmission and distribution utility receives the appropriately completed form to the end of that LIAP program year, the period of time for which the benefit is calculated, or the entire period of time specified by the patient's physician, whichever time period is less.

d. For transmission and distribution utilities providing a grace period for customers to recertify LIHEAP eligibility, the Oxygen Pump or Ventilator Benefit shall continue along with the LIAP benefit provided that the certification form specified in Section 4(L)(2) is submitted by October 1.

65-407 C.M.R. ch. 314, § 4